prosperous age

Chapter 387 Chapter 386 Soft?

Another big event happened to the court.

Although most officials were unable to express their opinions on the selection of fiefs for the vassals, as if it had nothing to do with them, the order of Emperor Jiajing still entered the sight of all Beijing officials.

On that night, the shopkeepers of many wine shops and flower shops discovered that the old men who used to like to come to their place for entertainment seemed to have disappeared all of a sudden.

Of course, the officials did not choose to stay away from these places because of financial constraints or conscience, but gathered in twos and threes at friends' homes to talk about the fiefdoms of the vassals.

Talking about these things outside will avoid people talking too much.

At this time, many people of all kinds came to the houses of Yan Song and Xu Jie, the cabinet ministers of the Ming Dynasty, and they all came to get closer and inquire about news.

And the houses of the six hall officials like Wu Shan and Yang Bo also had a lot of people coming, and even Qing Gao Gong's house of Taichang Temple had an endless stream of visitors.

The closer relationship is naturally because these people are the top dignitaries in the dynasty. Even their casual words and deeds may determine the future career of officials.

To inquire about the news, I want to know which places they plan to recommend to become the new feudal lord's fiefdom.

Of course, they didn't want to recommend their hometown to become the new fiefdom of the feudal king. In fact, every time the imperial court conferred the title of feudal king, they couldn't avoid a few things.

One is to build a standard prince's mansion in the fief. The site selection is naturally the best location in the center of the fief. As for the original owners of these places, their deeds will be forcibly taken away at a very low price.

The second is the fiefdom of the prince. Before the prince went to the fiefdom, it was customary that the emperor would directly reward large tracts of land.

The land granted by the emperor to the prince ranges from a hundred hectares to thousands of hectares.

What needs to be explained is that these land grants are not the transfer of property rights, that is, the transfer of land ownership to the vassals, but the transfer of the taxes attached to the fields to the royal palace.

It turns out that the farmland previously given to the royal residence and internal and external relatives has been established, that is, the government will levy three points of silver per mu, and after paying the amount due to the royal residence, the rest will go to the government. The income is used to pay other taxes and services of the government.

But in the Hongzhi period, Emperor Hongzhi broke the previous regulations and allowed the palace to collect taxes on the newly given land.

This not only reduces part of the country's income, but also greatly increases the burden on the local people.

Emperor Hongzhi ordered that this piece of land should be completely "administered" by the palace, which meant that all the income of the land would go to the palace. The palace could set a fairly high tax amount arbitrarily, and the local people had almost no remaining land income to pay other taxes. , In the end, the land can only be sold at a low price.

In fact, the large-scale annexation of land by the royal family of the Ming Dynasty began at this time.

Owning such land, apart from selling it to the Wangfu, there will be no second tyrant willing to buy it, and the original landlords of these lands will naturally suffer huge losses as a result.

Most of the land in the Ming Dynasty, except Huangzhuang Wangtian, was actually in the hands of gentry from all over the country. Although most of the Wangtian land that was set aside was civilian land, when the number of fields was not enough, their fields would also be taken away. included in the rewards.

With the continuous rewards from the royal family and the lack of private land, the apportionment of local taxes and services will gradually become a big problem. Naturally, no matter how you think about it, the local gentry do not want any vassal king to be entrusted to them.

Therefore, they came to inquire about the news. Although they had a say in choosing the fiefdom, they could get the information in advance, and then sent their family members to send letters to their hometown. The land in their hands should be sold as soon as possible to avoid losses.

In fact, in the provinces in the Central Plains where the vassal lords canonize more intensively, there has been a situation where the land is not enough to be entrusted.

The civil official group of the Ming Dynasty has always wanted to reform some of the clan's regulations, but they have always encountered resistance from the royal family, and the emperor never let go.

In feudal dynasties, land was the basis for producing wealth.

Emperor Jiajing focused on the batch of money raised by the Ministry of Household Affairs, and planned to use these 100,000 taels of silver to build the palace. They really couldn't object to this.

As for the granting of land to the new feudal lord, it seems that there is no way to object.

On this night, many people haven't had time to think about whether it is King Yu's Fan or King Jing's Fan, but they have been disturbed by the fiefdom and can't sleep at night.

However, not everyone is like this, at least Wei Guangde fell asleep peacefully.

In the next two days, the Beijing officials had already figured out the situation, and knew that Wu Shan, Minister of Rites, and Gao Yao, Minister of Hubu, had reached an agreement on the new canonization of the vassal king's land, that is, to send it to Anlu.

why where?In fact, there are reasons.

In Anlu, there are currently three vacant Prince's Mansions. If you choose one of them to renovate, it can be used as a new Prince's Mansion.

Second, there is a large area of ​​land in Anlu and its surrounding areas that was once designated as the feudal land of the vassals, and there is enough land for the emperor to reward.

Of course, the most important thing is that in Anlu and its surrounding areas, after several feudal lords confiscated their lands, many of the local gentry have disposed of those lands, and most of the land now belongs to official land, which "will not disturb the people."

Even, when the two went to the cabinet for preliminary consultations, they thought about the reason, that is, the new king was enshrined in Anlu, and as the child of Emperor Jiajing, he could sacrifice to Emperor Ruizong Zhu Youzhao instead of the emperor. daddy.

Let the grandson and descendants sacrifice for generations, and the Emperor Jiajing would not disagree.

You know, Emperor Jiajing was still very filial to his labor and his mother, think about the big ceremony back then.

Regarding Wu Shan and Gao Yao's ideas, neither Yan Song nor Xu Jie, the cabinet scholars, expressed any objection.

In fact, this place in Anlu should be called Chengtian Mansion now. After all, Emperor Jiajing came from here, but this does not mean that this place is a "treasure land of geomantic omen".

In fact, in the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Dong, the No.20 third son of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty, was conferred here, but Yongle passed away in 12 years. Because he had no sons, Ying Fan was abolished, which was a bad start.

Later Liang Wang Zhu Zhanyi was the ninth son of Ming Renzong Zhu Gaochi and the grandson of Ming Chengzu Zhu Di. He was named Liang Wang in the 22nd year of Yongle.

In the fourth year of Xuande, Zhu Zhanyi went to Anlu Mansion to live there. Only 15 years have passed since the death of Ying Wang Zhu Dong, who was the first to come here. Wang Fu, can this King Liang sleep soundly?

Not solid.

Liang Wang Zhu Zhanyi followed the old path of Ying Wang Zhu Dong, and died young in the sixth year of Zhengtong. He had no son and 2 daughters.

For the same reason as King Zhu Dong of Ying, Liang Fan was abolished because he had no son.

As for the third prince sealed here, that is Xing Wang Zhu Youzhao, the newly built palace has blood this time, leaving behind Emperor Jiajing.

Being sealed in Anlu, it seems that as long as you don't use the palaces used by King Ying and King Liang, you can avoid the experience of having no heirs?
of course not.

Anlu ushered in the fourth vassal king, this is the longevity king Zhu Youyu, he is the ninth son of Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty, and Hongzhi went to Baoning Prefecture in Sichuan for 11 years to become a vassal.

The road to Shu is difficult, it is difficult to go to the blue sky, and it is too far away, so he asked to change the enfeoffment to the inland. After Ming Wuzong Zhu Houzhao came to power, he agreed to the ninth uncle Zhu Youyu to move in. The new fiefdom was also in Anlu, but it was called De'an Mansion.

In the 24th year of Jiajing, Shouwang Zhu Youyu died at the age of 64. Because he had no son, Shoufan was banned.

According to Wu Shan and Gao Yao's plan, they would just borrow the site of the Shouwang Mansion and do a little renovation. If it's not enough to build a new palace nearby, they would directly transport anything missing from the abandoned Shouwang Mansion, which would also save a lot of expenses.

You know, the expenses of the feudal king and the feudal vassal are not cheap. In addition to the expenses of building a new palace, the household department will provide for the expenses of the feudal king and the feudal prince along the way. This cost will continue until the feudal king It's not over until you reach the palace.

The ceremonial guards for the vassal king's trip along the way, and the food and lodging of the entourage are not small sums, which are enough to cause headaches for the struggling household department, so naturally they can save as much as they can.

Of course, the most important thing is the rewarded land. As long as it does not touch the surrounding gentry, there will be much less local conflicts, and related work will be carried out faster.

During this period, as long as King Jing can be sent out of the capital early, in the eyes of Wu Shan, Gao Yao and others, it is still worthwhile.

Two days later, Wei Guangde heard that Huang Guangsheng, the governor of Huguichuan, proposed to transfer Yu Dayou to the post of Guizhou West Road Counselor in the selection of generals of the Ministry of War. Opinion.

In fact, on the night he met Huang Guangsheng, he received a note from Huang's mansion, knowing that Huang Guangsheng had agreed to his request, but Wei Guangde didn't send someone to Datong immediately to deliver the letter to Yu Dayou.

After all, the key to this matter is not Huang Guangsheng, but the emperor's attitude. Even if Yan Song obstructs, as long as the emperor is determined to use Yu Dayou, Yan Song has nothing to do.

In the past, perhaps the officials were worried about the pressure from Yan Song and feared retaliation afterwards, but under the current situation, they undoubtedly became more courageous.

How long can the suppression last?
He was retaliated and suppressed by Yan Song for a short period of time, and when King Yu came to power in a few years, this encounter would become a step for his promotion.

Although I don't know if Yu Dayou is related to Prince Yu's Mansion, Yan Song and Prince Yu's Mansion are enemies, and the enemy of an enemy is a friend. If I am an enemy of Yan Song, I am naturally a friend of Prince Yu's Mansion.

The official documents of the Ministry of War were sent to the cabinet, and Wei Guangde was waiting for the news from the cabinet.

Soon, Wei Guangde got news from the cabinet.

Contrary to what he thought, this time Yan Song uncharacteristically did not object, and drafted the votes the next day after receiving the Ministry of War's memo, and did not reject the Ministry of War's request for meritorious service in succession like when Datong was declaring meritorious service.

Together with the memorials that were sent to Xiyuan, there was also a memorial that the cabinet, together with the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Households, proposed to select the site of De'an Mansion in Huguang for the new palace.

The place of Chengtian Mansion must no longer be the place where the new king will take over, and the De'an Mansion within its territory has become the best place to choose the prince's mansion.

Everything seemed to be going well, Yan Song and King Jing seemed to have given up resistance, and did not choose to obstruct the related work.

Although Wei Guangde was a little curious about this, he also had some guesses.

He will not think more like Gao Gong and others after knowing the news because the Yan family has relented.

But no matter how he thought about it, he didn't expect that what Yan Shifan was thinking of at this time was precisely the place in Anlu Prefecture, where Feng Shui seemed to be a bit problematic.

After more than half a year, King Jing and Yan Shifan already knew that the pawn they arranged had been secretly executed by Dongchang.

In other words, what they did back then was actually discovered by Emperor Jiajing, but they were not involved.

Half a month later, King Jing recovered from his fear. He believed Yan Shifan's words. After all, he was his own son, and he did everything. What else could he do?

Up to now, knowing that Emperor Jiajing had started to contemplate confiscating the vassal, King Jing was also very nervous for a while.

In fact, when Yan Shifan got the news, the situation was no better than that of King Jing.

Obstruction, of course, is impossible. At this time, the authority of Emperor Jiajing is not something anyone can touch.

Make some small moves in private, not to threaten the authority of the emperor. Emperor Jiajing would not do anything to King Jing for the sake of his own son, but the Yan family can't do it, even if the father is a little bit unsympathetic to the emperor.

Moreover, up to now, Yan Shifan still has a little wild hope in his heart, that is, Xiyuan has not spread the word, who exactly does Emperor Jiajing want to let leave the capital and become a feudal vassal.

After knowing that Wu Shan and others chose Anlu, Yan Shifan even communicated with Yan Song.

Now Yan Song is old and lacks energy, and needs his son's advice on many things.

Regarding the plan of Wu Shan and others, Yan Shifan's idea is to oppose, but don't forcefully stop it.

Therefore, in the cabinet's memorandum, it only expresses Yan Song's feeling that the new king's seal in Anlu "seems inappropriate", which is in stark contrast to the strong support of Xu Jie, Wu Shan, Gao Yao and others.

This is what Wei Guangde noticed. He thought that the Yan family's idea was to pretend to be pitiful in front of Emperor Jiajing. Now Yan Song, who is the chief assistant of the cabinet, has been persecuted by his second assistant Xu Jie, Wu Shan, Minister of Rites, and Gao Yao, Minister of Household Affairs. Have to agree with their claims.

"Father, Your Majesty knows Feng Shui."

That night, Yan Shifan explained the reasons to Yan Song in detail, and the most important thing was that the place Wu Shan and Gao Yao chose was definitely not a treasured place of geomantic omen, but a dead place.

Emperor Jiajing had rested from Taoism for many years, so it is impossible not to know this.

In fact, when Emperor Xiaozong Zhu Youtang entrusted his younger brother to Anlu, he had no good intentions.

Zhu Youtang's childhood experience, it is impossible to say that he did not have any grievances against the palace people, but after he ascended the throne as emperor, he still had nothing to do with Wan Guifei's family, at least he could not retaliate publicly.

That is to say, Xing Wang Zhu Youzhao was indifferent to fame and fortune, and devoted himself to Taoism, so he did not follow in the footsteps of Bu Ying and Liang Erfan.

Tiger poison does not eat children.

From Yan Shifan's point of view, Emperor Jiajing would have rejected the memorial. No matter what, King Jing was his own son.

As for Huang Guangsheng's selection of general Yu Dayou, Yan Shifan didn't care too much. After all, at this time, the throne is the most important thing.

They were sent to the palace together. After Emperor Jiajing saw what was going on, he might reject them all in a fit of anger.
(End of this chapter)